Burnley nurse set to face panel over claims she pinned patient down

A NURSE will face a misconduct panel later this month after being accused of shouting at a patient and pinning their wrists down.

Deborah Lynn Hatfield has been charged with four counts of misconduct by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which relate to her employment with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) between 2010 and 2012.

In September 2010, she allegedly shouted at a female patient at the Rakehead Rehabilitation Centre at Burnley General Hospital, as well as restraining her by ‘pinning her wrists down when this was not necessary’.

Then in August 2012 she was accused of swearing in front of a patient and requiring them to ‘transfer from a seated to a standing position on to a commode’, when such transfers had not been authorised by the phy-siotherapist.

She has also been accused of falling asleep on shift as the nurse in charge on the same day.

The NMC ‘fitness to practice’ hearing will start in London on July 28 and is expected to last three days.

The Lancashire Telegraph asked ELHT whether Deborah Hatfield was still working for the trust, but this went unanswered in a statement.

David Smithson, head of human res-ources, said: “We await the outcome of the NMC hearing and will support whatever action they decide to take.”

The NMC is the regulatory body for nurses and where necessary, can take action to protect the public.

Its actions can range from imposing conditions of practice, to suspension or striking the person under investigation off the register.